Netanyahu fails to move up Likud primary

• Author: GIL HOFFMAN
• Date: 15 June 2021
• Published date: 15 June 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

According to Likud bylaws, the party must hold a leadership race ahead of the next election for Knesset. If Netanyahu could move up the primary to the coming weeks, no serious candidate likely would challenge him, and he would be able to remain Likud leader until just ahead of the next Knesset election, which could be years away.

But Likud secretariat head MK Israel Katz and Likud Central Committee head MK Haim Katz both said they strongly oppose advancing the primary.

Right after losing power, the party needs a period of stability without internal fights, Israel Katz said.

Haim Katz said: "Bibi [Netanyahu] was chosen by a wide margin to be our leader for the next four and a half years, and no one is challenging that. So why would we need to have primaries now? We need Bibi to lead the opposition now and bring down this government."

Israel Katz said he also opposes advancing the primary because Netanyahu could be more vulnerable later on as his criminal trial advances.

Those who see themselves as future Likud leadership candidates oppose advancing the primary, including Israel Katz and MKs Nir Barkat, Yuli Edelstein and Avi Dichter.

Barkat criticized Netanyahu for not being willing to rotate as prime minister with a candidate from Likud, a move that could have kept the party in power.

"I think the prime minister made a mistake in judgment," Barkat told Channel 12. "Had the prime minister been willing to move aside and hold primaries for a candidate who would head the nationalist camp, I think the camp would have...